What Happens Next?

Deng, Old-guard Communists Vow To Stifle Dissenters . . .

June 11, 1989|By Uli Schmetzer, Chicago Tribune.

BEIJING — The nine men who emerged from two months of turmoil this weekend as China`s reconfirmed leaders are all law-and-order hard-liners, united by a firm commitment to stifle any democratic challenge to the power of the Communist Party.

There were no new faces in the lineup that will seek to lead China`s 1.1 billion people in the aftermath of the student unrest that triggered a mass movement for democracy and the first serious challenge to the party in 40 years, a challenge smashed by military brutality unprecedented in China.

The vacant places of party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang and Politburo standing committee member Hu Qili were filled by the reappearance of retired President Li Xiannian, 83, and current Vice President Wang Zhen, 81.

Both campaigned tirelessly in the last two weeks for martial law in Beijing, and Western diplomats said their return to the party`s supreme command not only slammed the door on political innovation, but may usher in another era of repression and intellectual stagnation such as occurred in the 1950s.

Li Xiannian, president from 1982 until his retirement in 1986, is a survivor of the legendary Long March of the 1930s. An orthodox economist whose vision now is clouded by cataracts, he advocates central party planning, and has often thundered against reformers.

When Li Xiannian retired, he summed up his life`s philosophy with the oft-quoted slogan: ``China`s future destiny remains pure communism.`` That motto suits the new leadership.

Presiding over the ruling clique is the seemingly timeless figure of Deng Xiaoping, 84. Seeking to mollify reaction to the new top lineup, Deng told the nation Friday that the government continues its commitment to economic reforms and would correct past errors-a reference to the corruption within the party that became a battle cry during the recent antigovernment demonstrations.

Referring to the military`s putdown of the protests as ``this incident,`` Deng said: ``It will make us think about our past and future with sober minds, and also enable us to make progress with more stability, better and faster than before.``

But the frail Chinese leader, visibly wearied by recent events, made no concessions to the astonishing clamor for democratic reforms.

Instead, he maintained the party line by blaming ``a few people who attempted to overthrow the Communist Party and the socialist system, overthrow the republic and build a bourgeois republic.``

Seated for the official photograph with a cheering officer corps behind them-a scene reminiscent of the early days of communism-the men who now claim to lead China cast anxious glances at Deng as he re-emerged into the limelight for the first time since his historic meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev May 16.

Deng`s selections for the ruling clique may have been forced, in part, by obligations; the three octogenarians had rallied army officers and troops behind him.

The two ``youngsters`` in the new ruling body are men in their 60s, Premier Li Peng, who imposed martial law on May 20, and Qiao Shi, believed to have replaced Zhao as the ranking Communist Party official.

Among those smiling into the camera was Wan Li, 73, chairman of the standing committee of the National People`s Congress and president of the China Bridge Association.

He is a favorite bridge partner of Deng, a passionate player of the card game.

Wan had been reported under house arrest after his return from the U.S. two weeks ago. Although the congress rubber-stamps party decisions, Wan had told the U.S. media he thought the student demonstrations were ``patriotic,`` a remark that must have caused Deng much chagrin.

The dubious honor of saving the nation ``from counterrevolutionaries whose aim was to overthrow the government and the socialist system`` goes to President Yang Shangkun, 82.

He is a sort of latter-day warlord and Deng`s closest ally as vice chairman of the party`s all-powerful central military commission. Deng remains chairman.

Yang used the elite 27th Army, a unit fiercely loyal to him and his brother, Gen. Yang Baibing, to smash through divided troops into Beijing`s Tiananmen Square and savagely end, at least temporarily, the dreams of millions clamoring for democracy and an end to party dominance.

A veteran of Mao Tse-tung`s fabled ``Long March,`` which brought communism to China in 1949, Yang is known as a tireless campaigner among the troops.

Yang still has a penchant for romance. Last year even the official media linked his name to Beijing`s attractive deputy mayor, Wu Yi, 51.

She appeared with him at official functions but denied they had secretly married.

``In this country, with its thick sediment of feudalism, an outstanding single woman has to undergo fearful gossip,`` she told the weekly Beijing Review.

Last year, however, Wu was elevated to membership in the party`s sacrosanct central committee, an unusual honor for a woman her age.